Empress of Dreams
by Alexis Erika Rose
Summary: She was the one who lost it all, her respectable living, her mother, her best friend, and the man she loved, fallen from grace into a lifestyle of ill repute, the only way to survive.... Full Summery inside.
1. Poem

A/N so here you have my first attempt at an E/M story….. Yay me. It starts with a poem. So without further ado here it is.

_**Summery: She was the one who lost it all, her respectable living, her mother, her best friend, and the man she loved, fallen from grace into a lifestyle of ill repute, the only way to survive. She longed only for comfort of the one she loved, the one who loved another woman or death. Living a life of desperation and despair Meg Giry thought redemption would never come……**_

_Fractured Dreams_

By Alexis Erika Rose

_1: Fractured Dreams: The Poem_

Fractured Dreams and Broken Wings

How do I repair these broken things

He took my heart, He took my Soul

My heart remains an empty hole

Shattered Hope and Empty lies

Tears and pain I can't disguise

No more love, No more light

Forced to live the life of night

The Opera burned, my mother died

All for the love Christine denied

Hating her and loving him

These things are hidden deep within

Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide

From the pain I feel inside

I have no home, I have no hope

On my own I learn to cope

I wear a mask, I paint my face

Living in the wretched place

Could he save me? I don't know

I have hit the lowest low

Does he remember, does he care

This man who barely knew I was there

The past is gone, the past is dead

I must look to the future instead

Broken lives and fractured Dreams

Life is never what it seems


	2. Prologue

A/N: Well, I had decided not to post until I had more than one chapter but I don't know if I can follow through with that. I'm very eager to get this story to the good part.

_**Summery: She was the one who lost it all, her respectable living, her mother, her best friend, and the man she loved, fallen from grace into a lifestyle of ill repute, the only way to survive. She longed only for comfort of the one she loved, the one who loved another woman or death. Living a life of desperation and despair Meg Giry thought redemption would never come……**_

_**Disclaimer: If you recognize it I probably don't own it, if I did I wouldn't waste my time on fan fiction, I'd be rich and I'd be published….. But for now I only dream… of Erik.**_

_Fractured Dreams_

By Alexis Erika Rose

Prologue

_Life is to short._ The realization hit Megan Giry at the most heartbreaking moment. She was wrapped in her husband's arms, just enjoying being close to him. She fought back tears as his blue eyes met her green ones. Then something more terrible than the realization of life's briefness hit her.

Her breathing was becoming more labored and Meg could feel another of the dreadful coughing spasms building in her already frail lungs. She fought it as long as she could watching the growing concern in her lover's eyes. She focused those blue pools of intensity in the hopes that it would take her mind off the tremendous pain in her chest. When her vision started to swim with the dizzying effort of holding back the terrifying fit of coughing she turned to her mind to provide relief from the relentless disease.

She wondered were exactly this had all began, how she gone from a flighty little ballerina to this amazing man's wife. Where had the journey began? So much had happened in the past years that it was difficult to pinpoint the exact moment that it had started.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the coughing she could no longer hold back. She quickly placed the handkerchief to her mouth as her small frame was wracked with coughs that tore from her lungs. Her husbands pulled her close as the coughs went on, longer that they had before. Meg gasped for breath in the fleeting moments between fits of coughing. She felt his warm tears mingling with her own. Megs shoulders shook as the coughing continued. She could feel the warm blood soaking through the white handkerchief. She felt it happening.

_Oh god, _she thought, _not now! Please not now! _Sobs began to mix with the coughing a dangerous and deadly combination.

"Meg, darling, please calm down….." Her husband's voice calmed her only a little and she tried to focus through the intensifying coughs. She searched her memory, working through the events that had brought her to this moment. There was a time when she had found her husband frightening and a time she had thought he would never love her as she loved him.

_So where did it all began,_ Meg asked herself silently as Erik rubbed her back in futile attempt to sooth the cough.

Meg supposed that the most likely place that it had started was the moment they had first met…….


	3. Thus it Begins

_**A/N I apologize for this taking so long, I have like four on going stories and one that is kind of on hold because I'm working on it with someone else. Plus have two AP classes, and one Honors class. By the way, I one of those AP classes, AP English Language and Composition I have done three papers and only one of those was an A paper, the eight page paper on why people write Fan Fiction :D**_

_**Summery: She was the one who lost it all, her respectable living, her mother, her best friend, and the man she loved, fallen from grace into a lifestyle of ill repute, the only way to survive. She longed only for comfort of the one she loved, the one who loved another woman or death. Living a life of desperation and despair Meg Giry thought redemption would never come……**_

_**Disclaimer: If you recognize it I probably don't own it, believe me, if I owned any of this I'd be to rich to worry about Fan fics….**_

_Fractured Dreams_

By Alexis Erika Rose

Chapter One: Thus it begins

Megan Lynette Giry looked slowly around her. How was it she had managed to get so lost in a building she'd lived in for all fifteen years of her life? She shivered slightly, she was wearing only her ballet practice uniform and these passages were drafty. She hugged her arms around her body. She quivered slightly, with fear this time as tears welled up in her green eyes. She wondered briefly if there was anyone around, but no, she had wondered to far into the deep recesses of the Paris Opera House for anyone to be near. She screamed as something small fuzzy brushed against her leg. Rats. She'd always been terrified of the furry little beasts and now she was lost in a passage full of them.

Meg was dimly aware that the light around her was fading ever so slowly into darkness. She felt the tears begin to fall down her cheeks leaving behind their salty trails. She stumbled slightly as she struggled through the darkness, pushing herself to go on, even though she was petrified with terror. She hoped that she was heading towards something familiar, but she knew that she was only wondering farther away from where she should be. She wondered if her mother, the ballet instructor would even notice she was missing. Raissa Giry rarely had time for her daughter, as she treated all the ballerina's as her own. Mostly though she kept a special watch over Christine Daaé, and though the beautiful girl was Meg's best friend, she was often jealous of the girl and the attention she received from Meg's own mother. Sometimes though she worried for Christine's sanity, the way she babbled on and on about her dead father and her Angel of Music, whom she believed to be real.

Meg shook her head, realizing she'd not been paying any attention to where she was going. Now she was surrounded by total darkness. Her heart pounded in her chest as she continued onward, her pace slowed by her increasing anxiety. Meg screamed as she ran into something and, loosing her balance, tumbled to the floor. Meg slowly looked up from her position on the floor into the face a mysterious masked man. She trembled in fear as he glared at her.

"What are you doing here child?" he hissed.

"I-I was l-lost… Monsieur…" she stuttered helplessly.

"Tell me Megan how does one get lost in place that one has resided in all her life?"

"By n-not paying attention." She whimpered as she pulled herself into a sitting position.

"Ah… I see…" He said slowly, his intense blue eyes gazing deep into her own green eyes, which over flowed with pathetic tears. "And why did you not turn around when you realized that you had gone the wrong way?"

"Well… you see monsieur I-I was think about the upcoming opera and I-I was wondering if I- if I had a chance of getting ballet solo…"

"Ah, Raissa always did say you were a bit of a dreamer."

Meg's jaw dropped, as she realized that this man had addressed both her and her mother by name.

"I'm s-sorry, m-Monsieur, th-that I ran into you," Meg's voice still shook with the fear that this strange masked man inspired. "P-please Monsieur, w-will you tell me your name, since you know both mine and my mother's?"

The man glared at her for a moment before speaking.

"My name, or the one you may address me by is Erik."

Meg nodded, attempting to stand up, but failing when she placed weight on her ankle, only to find it tender and unable to support her weight. She slipped painfully back to the floor as a strangled cry of pain made its way past her lips.

Erik looked into Meg's pale face. He noted her full red lips and the now tangled mass of golden blonde hair. Her eyes were the same rich green as the leaves of the forest surrounding his childhood home. He found himself momentarily comparing her to his pupil, Christine, but shook his head quickly, as Meg's cry of pain pierced his thoughts. He looked down at her and frowned. She was holding her ankle and trying to cry.

"Let me look at that," he said briskly. She moved her hands and he knelt to look at her ankle. He took her dainty ankle in his hands and inspected it. It was a little puffy, but not broke. "I think you have sprained it. You won't dance in this Opera, but you will dance again."

She looked at him and nodded. Then she tried to get up again. This time she has success, but she could still put no weight on her tender ankle. Erik sighed heavily as she tried to hobble away from him and fell against the wall.

"I suppose you need help getting back," he said, "especially since you were lost."

Meg nodded slowly.

"Yes p-please, merci monsieur."

Erik merely nodded as he moved to allow Meg to lean on him.

A/N Well there you go, sorry it took so long an explanation of the names:

Raissa: I chose this name for Madame Giry, because I don't like the name Antoinette, which every one uses. Raissa is old French/ Greek it means thinker; rose thought this was rather appropriate.

Megan Lynette: Well, Meg is short for Megan in a lot of cases, it is a Gaelic/Welsh/Greek name, means mighty, strong, able. Lynette is French, it means Little Beauty, very appropriate. And Megan's meaning should become appropriate.

Add info: Erik means Honorable Ruler, it's Scandinavian, Erika is Old Norse/Old German/Old English and it means ever-powerful.


	4. Haunted

_**A/N Yay, new chapter, please review… I'm working on a novel and unless I get some feed back I might give on fan fiction for a while to work on the book as it will profit me more…**_

_**Summery: She was the one who lost it all, her respectable living, her mother, her best friend, and the man she loved, fallen from grace into a lifestyle of ill repute, the only way to survive. She longed only for comfort of the one she loved, the one who loved another woman or death. Living a life of desperation and despair Meg Giry thought redemption would never come……**_

_**Disclaimer: I own nufing! (If you don't know "Hogan's Heroes" you don't know the quote…)**_

_Fractured Dreams_

By Alexis Erika Rose

Chapter Two: Haunted

Meg couldn't stop thinking about him. And shivering in fear every time she did. She was positive that man… Erik, was Christine's beloved Angel, but he seemed more frightening than an angel should… She couldn't shake the cold, clammy fear that climbed her spine every time she pictured those dark blue eyesso dark Meg wondered if they weren't black eyes full of flaming hate and malevolence. Those eyes filled Meg with fear and loathing. Then there was the matter of the mask. That ivory white mask that contrasted so with the rich ebony of his hair. Meg could not help but wonder what was behind the mask, why would he hide half his face in such a manner? What on earth could posses a man to wear such a thing? Meg was pretty sure that this was the infamous Opera Ghost she had often heard the other Ballerinas tittering about and that her very own mother had often warned her about.

"Megan Lynette! Are you paying attention? We have only four rehearsals left until the Gala night! We do not have time for day dreams Megan Giry. Now pay attention, we are practicing the dance from Act two." Raissa Giry rapped her cane on the wooden floor of the stage, signaling that the dancers were to take their places.

"Sorry, Maman," Meg muttered under her breath.

"What is the matter Meg?" Christine asked her. "It is so unlike you to be day dreaming during practice? Is it a boy?" Christine giggled at this, perhaps thinking of one of the many stagehands who flirted with her, or perhaps her own angel.

_If only you knew Christine, if only you knew…_ Meg thought, but he would kill her if she said anything to Christine, that much was true.

"It's nothing Christine, truly. Don't' worry about it. I just… didn't sleep well last night." It was only a half lie, she didn't sleep well the past few nights, thoughts of Erik terrifying her, every time she closed her eyes to sleep.

_Meg's heart was beating rapidly in her chest, pounding into her ribs as she wondered those pitch black corridors once more. She could hear him behind her, his footsteps echoing through the halls as he gained on her. She started running, though she was unsure if she was running towards him or away from him…_

Meg woke with a start. Her body was slick, soaked with sweat. She looked over at Christine, who was, of course, sleeping peacefully. Christine and Meg were the only two Ballerina's who didn't share the common dorms. Those were the rules that Meg's mother had set down, when Meg, had decided to become a Ballerina… A decision she was no longer sure of. The competition among Ballerina's was fierce, made fiercer by the fact the Ballerina's were mostly young girls. Girls who could often be vicious, which sometimes made Meg grateful that she did not share a dorm with the other dancers, though the fact that she and Christine were the only two who did not share the dorm made for some nasty rumors. However, Meg was not a threat to anyone. She was, in fact, rapidly becoming one of the worse dancer. Her mother was ashamed of her, she could tell, for she would barely speak to Meg, choosing to address her as Megan Lynette. The coldness from her mother, was more than Meg could bear. She practiced for hours and hours everyday, long after the others had quit for the day. All this was in the hopes that she would get better, but it never happened, and her mother grew more distant everyday. Perhaps if there was someone to teach her. Perhaps…. But it was impossible, what reason could Erik have to teach her, besides he was much to frightening… but what if?


	5. The Empress of Broken Dreams

_**A/N: Wow you guys I'm so sorry. It's been like forever since I've updated! Um... I need a beta for this story. My regualr beta doesn't like E/M stories. So if you want the job let me know, let me know what you think are your qualifications, and I'll check you out. If you get the job I'll let you know. And know... Without further ado here it is.**_

_**Summery: She was the one who lost it all, her respectable living, her mother, her best friend, and the man she loved, fallen from grace into a lifestyle of ill repute, the only way to survive. She longed only for comfort of the one she loved, the one who loved another woman or death. Living a life of desperation and despair Meg Giry thought redemption would never come……**_

_**Disclaimer: You know the deal Me No one even remotely connected to anyone who owns anything to do with the rights to the Phantom of the Opera**_

_Fractured Dreams_

By Alexis Erika Rose

Chapter Three: The Empress of Broken Dreams

Meg stood on the center of the stage. The room was completely dark, except for the few candles she'd brought with her. She stretched her muscles leisurely, preparing to warm up and then practice. She stood in nothing but a night dress preparing for the midnight rehearsal that she had become so accustomed to. No, she had not convinced the mysterious Erik to teach her, as she had so often considered in the past months. To seek the infamous Phantom of the Opera was to seek Death its self. All Megan Giry could do was wait for him to approach her. She feared sleep now. She always woke in the middle of the night, her body slick with sweat, after having terrifying and sometimes erotic dreams about the man with hair as dark as his soul and eyes as intense as lightening.

Meg shivered as his image once more appeared in her mind. That would always frighten her and that mask… it only added to the effect.

_Perhaps,_ she thought as she began her semi-graceful dance around the stage, _perhaps that is the point of the mask; to add to the effect, to make him even more frightening and mysterious…_

Meg let the thought go as the dance consumed her mind. Tonight she was dancing the solo from Wagner's _Tristan and Isolde_. The opera was to be the next gala feature it was a terribly sad story, so much sadder than their last gala, Rossini's _The Barber of Seville_.

Meg slowly swirled and leaped across the stage in a slow and chilling tribute to the deaths of Tristan and Isolde. Their story was so sad. Their were so many tragic love stories around, Romeo and Juliet, Antony and Cleopatra, Tristan and Isolde, and of course the tragic tale of Camelot's King and Queen and the greatest knight ever to roam the earth. Megan had given up on love long ago; if it was going to end in tragedy she wanted no part of it.

Meg stopped mid-pirouette. She hadn't realized until now that she had been crying. When had that started? She angrily tried to wipe the tears from her eyes, but it was to no avail, the tears continued to fall from her eyes. Meg sank to the floor in frustrated defeat. She thought back to the first few days she had trained at the Opera with her mother.

_Meg, Meg darling come_ _here, her mother had cried excitement at the edge of her voice._

_Yes, Maman._

_Come here child, sit here, on my lap; I've some very important news to tell you my darling._

_Meg had looked up into her mother's warm brown eyes._

_Child, You are going to be an Empress someday, her mother had said her eyes full of love and hope._

_Really, Maman? Meg had asked her green eyes wide with wonder._

_Really Megan._

_How do you know?_

_Someone… Someone who would know, told me child._

_Meg had been taken aback by the look on her mother's face when she spoke of this person. The awe and love in her mother's eyes, were almost enough to make the child believe that her father had told her mother this prophecy, but that was impossible and as much as seven-year-old Megan Lynette Giry loved fairytales, she knew that her father had died the day she was born and she knew that life was no fairytale. _

Meg smiled grimly through her tears. She had been foolish to believe that she would be an Empress. She was a nobody; a foolish nobody who couldn't even dance a Ballet solo. She would never be an Empress. All she had were silly dreams that would never come true. Perhaps that was what this person had meant: that Meg would be The Empress of Broken Dreams.

Meg was surprised by the sound of someone sobbing, until she realized that she was the one crying uncontrollably. Her life was not what she wanted it to be. She was the ballet mistress's daughter and as such she had have all the talent and grace required to be the Prima Ballerina, but it wasn't so. Her father had been murdered the day she was born and her mother had never been the same since, at least that's what she gathered from the older ballerinas and the ballerinas who had since become to old to dance. She was haunted by ghost of a man who didn't even know she existed and any hope of a life after she left the Opera was dim at best.

"What on earth are you doing here Megan Giry."

Meg found her thoughts interrupted by an eerily familiar voice, a voice she'd been hearing in her sleep for months. Meg looked up and found her breath was taken away once more by those startling blue eyes.

"I… I always come here to practice…."

"Really, is that what they call now?"

Meg glared at Erik for his sarcasm.

"I was practicing, but I got caught up in my thoughts." Meg diverted her eyes, she could no longer take the intensity that burned in those dark blue eyes.

"I see." He lowered himself on to the floor next to her. "And what are these thoughts that plague your mind so little Giry?"

"That Messieur is none of your concern."

"I make it my concern to know everything that goes on in this Opera house mademoiselle, and you are going to help in that matter."

"Oh, and how am I supposed to do that?" Meg retorted.

She instantly regretted the remark when Erik's hand closed around her wrist in a bruising grip. She bit back a sharp cry of pain and looked him in the eye with all the hatred she could muster.

"You, my dear, are going to meet me here on this stage every night at midnight and you shall inform me of everything that goes on in this opera house, particularly if it involves Christine. In return I will teach you how to dance properly. However," Meg felt Erik tightened his grip on her wrist and she couldn't hold back the cry of pain that passed her lips, "if you tell a single soul about me or our arrangements, you will regret the very day you were born."

Meg bit her lip and nodded her head in silent acceptation. She kept her eyes on the floor as Erik's footsteps faded into the distance.

"But what if I already regret it?"


	6. The Lessons

_**A/N: Like I said in a chapter I just posted before this one, I'm SO sorry I haven't updated in awhile! I've been so busy with my senior year!! (Runs from angry mob) If you hurt me I can't write!!!!**_

_**Also, I have no clue how the audition for a lead ballet role in an opera worked back then, I'm not entirely sure if there was such a thing, but hey its fan fiction and as the writer I have artistic license, so I'm just going with it.**_

_**Summery: She was the one who lost it all, her respectable living, her mother, her best friend, and the man she loved, fallen from grace into a lifestyle of ill repute, the only way to survive. She longed only for comfort of the one she loved, the one who loved another woman or death. Living a life of desperation and despair Meg Giry thought redemption would never come……**_

_**Disclaimer: You know the deal, you recognize it, I probably don't own it.**_

Chapter Four: The Lessons and The Dance

For three months now Meg had been taking lessons from Erik on how to be the best dancer. She had to admit he was a good teacher, even if he was rough. Meg closed her eyes as a wave of memories from the past lessons washed over her. In Erik's lessons there was no way to avoid his touch, often he would hold her and move her body into the correct position. Every time his gentle hands connected with her skin, Meg felt like melting into his arms. Every time she looked into those unbelievable blue eyes she lost track everything else.

Meg sat down on her bed and sighed. She had to clear her head of all these thoughts or she'd completely blow her audition for the lead ballerina in the next opera. Thanks to Erik's lessons Meg was quickly becoming the best dancer, a threat to all the other ballerinas, who had become more and more vicious to the sweet-natured Meg. She didn't understand why these girls had to be so cruel, but she supposed it came with the competition.

Meg put her head in her hands as her thoughts drifted once more to the mysterious Phantom of the Opera. Meg just couldn't understand what she felt when it came to him. Sometimes she was terrified of him, but at other times she was overpowered by him. She wasn't sure what it was or even how to identify it, but whatever it was she was it scared her more than Erik's anger. Meg tried to push her thoughts aside as she made her way to the stage, where the ballerinas were gathering to audition for the lead ballet role in "Hannibal."

She had to shake these thoughts and focus on the dance, or else she'd fail and Erik would probably refuse to teach her, since three months of lessons failed. Meg sighed, it was hopeless. Erik haunted her more than ever. She took her seat and tried in vain to push Erik from her thoughts as she waited for her turn to dance.

She watched as several other ballerinas danced. Thanks to Erik's criticisms of her dancing, she noticed several flaws in the other girls' dancing.

Finally it was her turn. Meg calmly took the stage, she'd been practicing for a month, she had nothing to fear. She wondered if Erik might be watching, after all he did make it his business to know everything that went on in _his_ opera house.

With that thought Meg took her place and when the music began it was nothing but the dance.

Meg smiled. She'd done it. She got the lead, and several comments and dirty looks from the other dancers, but she'd succeeded. Her thoughts turned to Erik, She had to tell him, if he didn't already know.

She made her way to her room, to change out of her dancing clothes, and into something more appropriate. As she stepped into her room she noticed something on her bed. She went and picked the letter up.

_Megan-_

_You danced beautifully, congratulations._ _There will be no dance lessons tonight, instead you will meet me on the roof._

_-Erik_

Meg's heart was beating faster as she read the note. Erik wanted to meet her on the roof tonight instead of having the usual lessons. What did that mean?

She straightened her back and stood to her full height, there was only one way to find out.


	7. The Roof Top

A/N: Look a new chapter! And its only been a few days!!!! Yay!

Oh! And thanks to the person who explained all that ballet stuff! I'm actually to try and throw in some terms I've learned from my little sister who knows some Ballet from color guard ;)

_**Summery: She was the one who lost it all, her respectable living, her mother, her best friend, and the man she loved, fallen from grace into a lifestyle of ill repute, the only way to survive. She longed only for comfort of the one she loved, the one who loved another woman or death. Living a life of desperation and despair Meg Giry thought redemption would never come……**_

_**Disclaimer: You know the deal, I only own this story, but none of the characters (yet) Don't sue me, I seriously have nothing.**_

Chapter Five: The Roof Top

Meg stood nervously smoothing her the satin skirt of her blue dress. It was the prettiest dress she had, and fro some reason she wanted to look her best for Erik. Maybe it would help her to not be so afraid.

The minute he stood in front of her, his commanding presence shattered al Meg's hopes of bravery.

"You're early," he stated.

Meg nodded mutely in reply, overpowered once more. She knew that she was completely under his spell now.

"Very well. Congratulations on your audition. You were wonderful. That arabesques was beautiful and your lines were perfect."

Meg smiled, basking in the warmth of his praise.

"Naturally we will continue the lessons, and you will continue to provide me with information."

Meg nodded silently.

"Well Megan Lynette, do you have anything to say for yourself?"

"Thank you, sir, for teaching me."

"Its nothing Megan, I had nothing better to do with my time, and you have proven yourself to be a valuable asset to me." She could tell by his tone that he meant it.

Meg hung her head to hide the tears that were forming in her eyes.

"Oh," she whispered.

"What is it now child? You have the lead dance in the next gala, Christine will sing. Everything is going well. What more could you want? To be an Empress?"

Though the words were said with sarcasm, they suddenly made Meg think. Who was it that told her mother she would be an Empress?

"It was you wasn't it?"

"What on earth are you talking about, Megan?" Erik sound exasperated.

"It was you. You're the one who told Maman that I was going to become an empress someday."

Erik smiled a mysterious half-smile.

"I suppose I did," he said, half to himself.

"How could you?" Meg hissed. "How dare you? You lied to me and to my mother! And to what end? What purpose did it serve?"

"Well it got your mother on my side didn't it?"

"Yes I suppose it did. Is that all people are to you? Pawns to moved around at your will? Is all you do play games with people's lives?" Meg regretted the angry words the moment they left her lips. The regret was instant. Now she had invoked his wrath.

Erik covered the distance between them in two long strides. He grabbed both her wrists in a strong, bruising grip. Meg cried out in pain.

"Listen to me you simple, foolish, little girl!" Erik's voice was harsh, his breathing ragged with his anger. "You do not question me or my motives! I am your master, and you obey me! You should be grateful that I saved your pathetic career and gave you a future as a dancer, not questioning events nine years past!" He released her with a shove and watched coldly as she fell to the ground. "We will continue your lessons tomorrow, promptly at midnight. Miss it at your own peril," he said coldly, before he turned with a flourish of his cloak and disappeared.

Meg lay on the ground sobbing for quite sometime, before she was finally able to gain control of herself and drag herself back to the room she shared with Christine. She got changed and climbed into bed as silently as she could, trying not to the sleeping girl in the other bed. She sobbed quietly to her self, cursing her foolishness. She was traveling dangerous ground with Erik, and she'd treated it as a game. Blindly and naively trusting him had only gotten her hurt, and now she was trapped.

A strangled sob escaped her throat, and Christine stirred.

"Meg?" she said groggily.

"Yes Christine, its me," Meg said with as much control as she could muster.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"But I heard you crying…"

"I said it was nothing Christine!" Meg snapped. "Now just leave me alone!"

Christine fell silent and didn't say another word as Meg quietly cried herself to sleep.


End file.
